Master
by stephfarrow94
Summary: Mukuro made sure to teach Fran from an early age where his place was. Tsuna is the only one able to see the damage it did to the younger illusionist's mind. One-shot.


It was no secret Mukuro was not cut out for parenting; he was fifteen, angry and hateful towards the world he sought to destroy - the last thing he wanted was to have some snot-nosed little brat following him around all the time, throwing snarky comments at him every time one of them opened their mouth.

The blue-haired teenager knew he should have just left Fran in France, allowed the Varia to take the boy and do whatever they pleased with him - instead, he had wasted his time and energy going after the cruel little brat who didn't even remember who he was.

"Mukuro?"

Mukuro tensed as the boy pushed open the door to his room. He listened as tiny feet tread over the dusty, broken floorboards of Kokuyo Land, the soft voice floating through the air in a seemingly gentle manner - but Mukuro knew better; it would be only a matter of time before he had to restrain himself to not snap the kid's neck here and now.

"Mukuro, I'm hungry." Emerald orbs seemed to shine in the darkness of the abandoned building, fixed solely on the teenager. "Can I take a bite out of your pineapple head?"

Sneering, the older illusionist materialised his trident as he got to his feet. He took a few steps towards his charge, but Fran just watched him with a slight smile on his face, standing where he was as if he trusted the other not to hurt him.

"You have to be the rudest, most annoying, ungrateful little brat I have ever had the displeasure of meeting." Kneeling down on his knees, Mukuro grabbed the front of the boy's Kokuyo jacket, pulling him closer. His hot breath billowed over his pupil's face, but he didn't care; he was already in a bad mood, and this little shit had made it worse. "I wish I had never gone to get you. I should send you to Varia where they will do whatever they want with you. You make me angrier than Tsunayoshi or even the mafia does."

Emerald eyes watched as the trident was raised, pointed towards his apple-coated headed. They widened within a split second as the weapon was thrust at him, whimpering as the spikes went through his illusion. He had closed his eyes in fright, but when he opened them again and looked at his teacher, they were full of tears, fear prominent in them.

"M-mukuro...?"

Slapping the boy across the face, Mukuro growled. "Do not ever talk to me in such an unwarranted tone again, Fran; you ought to respect me - I am all you have now, and I will not hesitate to abandon you to the streets if you do not obey me."

A single tear slipped down Fran's cheek at these words, unused to crying, but horrified of the idea of being all alone; he had just been taken away from his grandmother to a country he had never been to before, and the one person he trusted and even liked didn't seem to return those feelings.

Trying to pull himself out of the stronger male's hold, Fran looked to the ground. He lifted a chubby hand to his wet eyes, rubbing at them to try and stop his tears. "I want to go back to my grandmother..."

"Believe me, Fran; I would love nothing more than to ship you back to her." Grabbing hold of teal strands, Mukuro yanked as hard as he could so that Fran's head was pulled back to look up at him. "The only problem is, Varia killed her before we left, so I am, unfortunately, stuck with you."

A sob escaped as Fran instinctively tried to push himself closer to the teenager, heartbroken to hear that he hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to the only family he had left. He wrapped skinny arms around the illusionist, burying his face in against a fragile chest, only to be pushed away in a careless manner by his guardian.

"Do not touch me, Fran!" Mukuro snapped. "Do not ever touch me!" Raising his hand to the boy, the blue-haired male slapped his charge once again.

Fran flinched and raised his arm in an effort to protect himself, only to be knocked to the ground as the other started to beat him. He cried out that he was sorry, that he just wanted to go home, but it didn't stop; not until it felt as if forever had passed.

Once Mukuro had eventually taken all of his anger and loathing towards the world out on Fran, he felt his head clearing. He didn't regret what he had done, hoping the blood he had spilt from the other would teach the boy not to disrespect him – he had had enough of that in his life, done by those he was supposed to call his _family, _and he didn't need to be treated badly by a _kid _as well.

"Do not call me by my name anymore, Fran..." Moving back to the bed he had been curled up on previously, Mukuro looked over his shoulder at the lump on his floor. "It's 'Master' to you."

Fran didn't reply; he was too busy crying into the floorboards, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

**~~Ten Years Later~~**

With a meeting called by the Vongola Decimo, Mukuro had had no choice but to attend, and Fran had asked to go with him. The brunet known as Tsunayoshi Sawada had always noticed that there was something off about Fran, but he had never known what to put it down to; living with Mukuro would probably be traumatising enough in itself, after all.

"Thank you for coming." Tsunayoshi smiled at his Mist Guardian before he turned to Fran. As always, the teal-haired teenager was keeping his distance from his teacher, his usual emotionless expression looking around at his surroundings. The boy sat when his Master did, seemingly doing his hardest to keep from making even the slightest bit of physical contact with the long-haired man.

Fran was silent as the meeting went by, keeping his head down. Tsunayoshi didn't miss the way the boy flinched as the older illusionist made sudden movements, and though the brunet had his suspicions, he had never questioned the student; for whatever reason, the youngest truly loved Mukuro and was always by his side.

By the time Tsunayoshi had finished talking about what he needed to, he dismissed everyone, though requested for Fran to stay behind. Heterochromatic eyes fixed on the Sky Guardian suspiciously, but the illusionist didn't say anything; he just left the large meeting room in the Vongola Mansion, waiting outside in the corridor for his pupil to come out.

Fran approached Tsunayoshi once he was alone, but he was careful to keep plenty of distance between them; if the brunet tried to close the space, the illusionist backpedalled. The younger refused any and all touch, whether it was giving or receiving, and never once did he make eye contact - it wasn't just a Vongola thing, Tsunayoshi knew; he acted the same around the Varia as well.

"Is there... anything I could help you with, Fran?" Tsunayoshi stood patiently where he was, waiting for the smaller male's reply.

Emerald eyes blinked slowly before a teal head shook. "No. Why would I need any help? My Master teaches me all I need to know."

"You just seem to be a bit... nervous around people." The brunet sincerely hoped the other wasn't going to take this the wrong way; Fran always seemed calm and collected except for those sudden moments of fright, but would he appreciate this being pointed out?

"I'm not nervous of people." As always, the boy spoke in a flat tone. "My Master taught me my place when I was young; I simply do as I learned because I know the consequences of stepping out of line."

"You're not scared of Mukuro?"

Shaking his head, the boy said, "I love Master, and I'm sure he loves me deep down; he's just very... strict."

Tsunayoshi didn't like the sounds of this, but what right did he have to get in the way of this? He didn't know the specifics of what went on at Kokuyo Land; he couldn't prove Mukuro was the reason Fran flinched at the slightest movement - most of all, he could do nothing other than take what the younger said at face-value; the Kokuyo-slash-Varia member was brutally honest at the worst of times.

"Well..." though the Vongola Decimo wanted to do more, he could see the illusionist was growing agitated; he probably just wanted to go back to his teacher. "If you ever need someone to talk to, Fran, I'm always here."

The boy nodded, turning to leave the room, only to tense as he felt strong arms wrap around him from behind. His first instinct was to hide himself away with an illusion, but he had never had a hug since he had been taken from his grandmother, and he had almost forgotten just how good they were.

Dropping his chin to his chest, Fran forced himself to relax, trying to enjoy the embrace while it lasted; he knew he would probably never get one again, as much as he wished his Master would give him one, even just once.

Tsunayoshi was reluctant to let go of the scrawny teenager, but when he did, he reaffirmed that he cared. "You've got my number, Fran; day or night, I'll pick up the phone."

Fran nodded, and with that, he was back by his Master's side, keeping quiet for the man he loved so much, no matter the fact that he knew the illusionist didn't return his feelings.


End file.
